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PS3 Call of Duty 4 Map Pack finally hammers down solid release dates
Apparently, there was nothing to worry about. The Variety Map Pack will hit the North American PSN on April 24 as previously scheduled. European Call of Duty 4 fans can pick up the downloadable content from the Euro PSN on May 1.Double XP weekend for North America will commence on Friday, April 25 at midnight Pacific Time. It will run through Saturday until Sunday, April 27 ending also at midnight Pacific Time. "Play with Infinity Ward" will be on Friday, April 25 at 5-8pm Pacific. As for Europe, Double XP weekend begins Friday, May 2 at midnight GMT and will end Sunday, May 4 at midnight GMT. Europe's "Play with Infinity Ward" is on Friday, May 2 at 7-10pm GMT.
Toyota and Guitar Hero III pull an All-Nighter
The driving fools at Toyota and the strumming chaps at Activision have set forth plans for an Xbox Live All-Nighter event where gamers are encouraged to rock out with friends on Guitar Hero III until the early AM hours. Beginning April 26th through the 27th, gamers can register for the All-Nighter fun by downloading the registration picture off the XBLM, then enter by pulling an All-Nighter. After you awake from your crash, you can then complete a writeup of you All-Nighter festivities and send it Microsoft's way. For your efforts, you could win a super nifty (and fully functioning) Peavey AG RiffMaster guitar complete with custom All-Nighter artwork. Check out all the event details after the jump.
EU greenlights Activision-Vivendi merger
The European Commission has given permission to the games division of French telecom and media group, Vivendi, to run free into the arms of Activision. This is one of the final loose ends left in the $9.85 billion deal spawning the behemoth known as Activision Blizzard (or by its street name: Actilizzard? Blizzavision?). Vivendi will procure a 52% stake in the EA rival and is expected to have annual revenue of $3.8 billion.The Commission essentially needed to approve that there weren't any antitrust issues in the mega-merger. In its report the group stated that there are several effective competitors in the market, such as EA and the game console manufacturers. Guess it's time to start ordering the office stationary.
On Tour devs on the challenges of cramming Guitar Hero into the DS
Vicarious Visions, developer of Guitar Hero: On Tour, talked to MTV Multiplayer's Steven Totilo about the process of creating, Frankenstein-style, the bizarre DS version of a game that usually relies on a giant peripheral. They broke their discussion of its development into a list of six challenges, and then addressed each challenge specifically. The most obvious challenge: the DS isn't shaped like a guitar, and it's doubtful that any useful peripheral could make it be. According to Vicarious Visions' Karthik Bala, the company never considered adding a full Guitar Hero fretboard, due to a desire to remain compact.Another challenge, and one that we find particularly interesting, was convincing Nintendo to allow Vicarious Visions to add buttons to the DS. Rather than providing a different interface for the existing buttons (like other Guitar Hero controllers), the Guitar Grip actually adds new buttons to the system that aren't mapped to anything else. And Nintendo had to get involved to make sure the peripheral was up to their standards.%Gallery-19362%
GH: Aerosmith: Same old Les Paul, new faceplate
Activision recently sent word about Guitar Hero: Aerosmith's bundle offer and for everyone who was hoping for a brand new wireless guitar peripheral, we have the enjoyably-twisted honor of crushing your fragile guitar dreams. How it's laid out, with any $99 Guitar Hero: Aerosmith bundle purchase you'll receive the game, a special Aerosmith tour book and a wireless Gibson Les Paul guitar controller as was bundled with GHIII. But with a special red Aerosmith faceplate. No new guitar technology, just a new faceplate. We aren't sure if we're supposed to feel cheated or angry at ourselves for expecting something entirely new. Humph to it all.
GHSkinz adds style to your fake instruments
Folks looking to jazz up their plastic Les Pauls for Guitar Hero or instruments they'll be jamming with in Rock Band, take note. Website GHSkinz is looking to offer you skins and other accessories for your fake instruments.The skins themselves look like they're high quality, but with that comes the problem of price. It won't be cheap to outfit your instruments. But, then again, when your guitar looks as badass as this, we're not sure you're going to care about how much you spent to make sure it looks this way.See also: Give your Rock Band drums some extra lives
NMS08: Joystiq impressions roundup
Nintendo offered press a look at upcoming Nintendo (and third-party) titles at last week's Nintendo Media Summit, and Joystiq's Zack Stern was all up ons. He got a look at two of the most highly anticipated third-party DS games, and one surprise that we didn't realize Nintendo would put their marketing muscle behind.Zenses: Ocean is a casual puzzle collection from publisher The Game Factory designed to be relaxing. It features an ocean theme (a second game will be rainforest-themed) and a mellow soundtrack (even including headphones in the package). The games described include block-matching and a "connect the dots" game that is basically Puchi Puchi Virus. Zack was perhaps a little too relaxed by Zenses, in that he didn't find it particularly fun.New information about Guitar Hero: On Tour was revealed in a presentation. For example, as expected (but not previously confirmed) it can be played right- or left-handed. Star Power is activated by humiliating yourself yelling.Faithful readers will already know plenty about Space Invaders Extreme, but by all means check out the post, because it's stuff about Space Invaders Extreme.%Gallery-20612%%Gallery-19362% %Gallery-14613% Read: Impressions of Guitar Hero: On Tour Read: Hands-on with Zenses: Ocean Read: Hands-on with Space Invaders Extreme
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith bundle revealed, costs $99
Click for high-resolution image. The next Guitar Hero game may highlight Aerosmith, but it'll feature a number of songs from other bands, including The Clash, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts and more. Activision has just announced their pre-order bonuses for the upcoming music game. For $99, you'll get a special bundle which includes another guitar, the "exclusive" Aerosmith faceplate, an Aerosmith tour book and a copy of the game.Check out images of the new guitar faceplate in our gallery. Aerosmith launches this June.%Gallery-20625%
Retailers set console Quake Wars release in May
Word on the intertubes is that Activision and id have settled on a May release for Enemy Territories: Quake Wars, or so say retailers. According to various reports from retail sources, Quake Wars (which has been available on the PC since late last year) will make its Xbox 360 debut May 30th in Europe and we expect a Tuesday, May 27th release in North America. But so far, Activision has refused to comment on any of this May release talk, so it isn't officially official. And is it just us or does this Spring / early Summer seem loaded with video game releases?
Joystiq impressions: Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
Activision and Nintendo briefly demonstrated Guitar Hero: On Tour at last week's Nintendo Media Summit. As previously announced, the portable rhythm game includes a four-fret controller that slips into the DS GBA slot. A stylus shaped like a guitar pick can be stored inside and pulled out for portable rocking. Guitar Hero: On Tour includes the same kind of career mode and single-song play as Guitar Hero III; many of the portable songs also overlap with other versions of the game. But 20 new tracks, a few control twists, and a new versus mode should make it more than Guitar Hero Lite. %Gallery-18848%
LEGO Indiana Jones to feature a lot of playable characters
No, we didn't mix up Indiana Jones with a Mortal Kombat game; the latest LEGO title, LEGO Indiana Jones. will feature more characters than you could possibly ever need. 60, to be exact.When thinking back on the three films that will form the basis for the upcoming game, we're wondering if there are even 60 characters. Sure, there's the bald Nazi guy who gets greased by the plane propeller and John Rhys-Davies, but what else? We guess you'll be playing as non-human characters too, like that little monkey and 40 different species of snake.%Gallery-15539%[Via Joystiq]
Guitar Hero DS accessories on the way
Someone is willing to gamble a significant amount of money on the idea of a shrunk-down Guitar Hero on the DS. BD&A, who make officially-licensed Nintendo hardware cases and accessories, will produce accessories for Guitar Hero: On Tour, meaning that they think the product is non-wacky enough (or lovably wacky enough) to sell -- and sell other stuff.Two listings at Gamestop hint pretty strongly at their initial products: a $10 DS Lite Guitar Hero Stylus and a $20 DS Lite Guitar Hero Ruby Red Kit, which comprises "a glitter case, 2 system wraps, and a cleaning cloth." We assume they mean a DS Lite/Guitar Grip case that is glittery, and not a case for your glitter. They're saving that for Guitar Hero: Rip Taylor Edition.
New Def Leppard single to hit GH3 before retail
We've known for a while that inclusion on a video game soundtrack can help drive music sales, but usually the song in question is actually available for sale when it appears in the game. Not so for Def Leppard's new single, "Nine Lives," which will premiere as a downloadable Guitar Hero III track before it's available at retail or other online services. No F-f-f-foolin'!The track, which comes as part of a Def Leppard pack along with classics "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph," will be available on April 24th in the U.S. and May 8th in the U.K. The album "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" follows soon after on April 28 (digital download) and May 5 (physical disc)."I know from personal experience how much more you get into the music by playing the game," said Def Leppard Lead Singer Joe Elliott in a press release. "Guitar Hero is extremely popular with all kinds of music heads, which includes a lot of our fans - and we think releasing Nine Lives this way first is just fantastic!"[Via X3F]
LEGO: Indy officially swings to UK retail on June 6th
Earlier today, Activision announced that LEGO: Indiana Jones will be headed to European retailers on Friday, June 6th and (we're guessing) to North America on the 3rd. And if that sounds familiar, it's because we sort of already knew about the June 6th release when, earlier last month, UK GAME stores let slip the release via a promotional press release. But now we have the release date confirmed, straight from Acti's mouth and nobody can argue it. And no arguing about four player co-op either, because we've already been informed that it's 2 player co-op. Mmkay?
Guitar Hero III replacement process begins in Europe
Folks in Europe no longer have to be the only Guitar Hero III owners suffering through the game in mono sound, as Activision has finally started the replacement process in the neglected continent. In order to register for your replacement discs, just go to this site, enter the appropriate information, and print out the shipping label. Then, you just send out your glitched version and wait for your new disc to arrive.Better late than never, we suppose.[Thanks, Ashlee and Locke2007!]
Family Album: Activision
Our cruel compatriots over at Joystiq have posted a new Family Album, this time for the new biggest publisher in the business, Activision. Just what the hell is a family album you ask? Joystiq started the Family Album series to highlight just which developers belong to which publishers. Sure, most of us are familiar with Activision studios like Bizarre Creations and Infinity Ward (though the former is a recent acquisition), but did you know that Activision also houses the minds behind classics like The Horde and Star Control? Follow the "read" link to see what makes Activision tick (apart from endless iterations of Call of Duty and Guitar Hero).
A short-term deal on a short-term Guitar Hero: On Tour order
If, in the great Guitar Hero: On Tour debate, you fall on the side of "looks pretty good, I might get it, maybe," then you may be interested in this timed deal from Gamestop. Their "stopwatch deal" for today offers free overnight shipping on orders for the game (with included Guitar Grip peripheral, of course). You could be rocking out basically the same day it shows up in stores (June 23rd), without having to actually enter a Gamestop.You only have until noon EST tomorrow to get on this deal, so if you're still on the fence about the ridiculous peripheral, now's the time to start soul-searching.
Activision settles suit over Wii Guitar Hero's mono sound
Those replacement discs and free guitar faceplates that Activision has been sending to jilted, mono-version buyers of Wii's Guitar Hero III are now enshrined in law. Gamespot is reporting that the publisher has officially settled the class-action lawsuit brought late last year by gamers who were angry over getting fewer sound channels than they were promised by the game's marketing and packaging. The settlement stipulates that wronged parties will be able to get a replacement disc and a free faceplate through Aug. 31. It might not quite be the full profit stripping that the original suit sought, but we suppose it is something to have the replacement program enshrined in the law.
Charlie Daniels upset that 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' in Guitar Hero III
We thought that the inclusion of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," as the final song in Guitar Hero III was a pretty inspired choice, but it seems not everyone was as thrilled with the selection, including Charlie Daniels, the song's author. The Christian country star (who no longer holds the rights to the song) recently posted about the game on his blog, his primary beef seeming to be that El Diablo can win. He wrote that the song "is supposed to be a lighthearted novelty about a fiddling contest between a country boy and the devil and the devil always loses." But, he goes on to say that GHIII features "a guitar-playing devil who battles the player and very often wins." ... So, is Daniels complaining about balancing issues? Because, if so, we totally agree. The devil's way too tough.But we do feel compelled to point out that the game never says the main boss is the devil. In fact, he has a name and it's Lou. Maybe Lou isn't a devil at all, maybe he's just deformed like that guy from Mask. So we ask you, dear reader, what's the worse sin? Letting the devil win in a video game or calling handicapped people demons? We think the choice is pretty clear.[Via Bit-tech.net]
Activision settles Guitar Hero III class action suit
Activision has been dealing with the anger of Guitar Hero III owners, which culminated four months ago in a class action lawsuit. The plaintiff, Sam Livingston, filed the suit against Activision because of the company's "deceptive" conduct regarding the lack of Dolby Pro Logic II.Instead of letting the case get to court, though, Activision decided to offer a settlement. The amount of cash that exchanged hands in the deal was not made public, but we bet a check will be more satisfying than a complimentary faceplate. Oh, and speaking of those? They were actually less of an act of kindness on Activision's part, and more of a required legal stipulation from the settlement.Even though Activision probably lost a whole lot of pennies in order to settle, we're sure the company is happy that there's now one less lawsuit to worry about this year.[Via Game|Life]
